Pancreatitis - please help
 

Hello everyone,

I have not been here in about a year. I switched vets and this new one thinks my yorkie has pancreatitis. First, he thought it was Cushings or Addisons but, the lab work on those came back negative. Do any of your babies have Pancreatitis? If so, what treatment do you have them on and what food is best for them.

Thanks a bunch!!!
Anne

If you switched vets and your new vet "thinks" she might have pancreatitis, then perhaps you should consider another change in vets. Pancreatitis is easy to diagnose. Did your vet do any blood tests?

Sometimes they give a pancreatic enzyme to supplement what their pancreatitis is not able to produce. Some vets prescribe a diet of Science Diet ID - dry and canned.

Yes my vet did complete lab work and that's why he believes its pancreatitis. He was ruling other things.
My other vet had her on I'd and it was the worst. Worked for a few weeks and then she was vomitting practically every week. So that's definately not a good food for her.

My emphasis is on "believes" it's pancreatitis. A vet doesn't "believe" it is pancreatitis. He could easily diagnose it. If your vet "believes" it is pancreatitis, but isn't certain then I'd be looking for another dr. Your pup has been having problems since last fall. I would suggest you ask for a referral to an internist. Your pup cannot continue at this rate.

^^I agree with Karen, first get a definitive diagnosis.

In the meantime, here is a good thread for you: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...itis-help.html

Is it acute (one severe case) or chronic and more mild or acute but recurring?

My girl has had it - a lot. They are all different though. Very low fat diet is usually given.. Supportive care during an episode..

If I/D isn't working, there are other low fat foods that can be tried (Royal Canin makes one, perhaps Purina, Iams makes one, you could homecook under the direction of a veterinary nutritionist which I wouldn't recommend unless you want to put a lot of energy into this).

What lab work has he done? I am sure he did not do definitive testing to rule out Cushings as that is not simple. A test for pancreatitis is much easier to do. My guess is basic lab studies and he is guessing and ruling things out based on that??

As for switching vets...honestly, it sounds like you probably should be seeing an internal med specialist at this point rather than another general practice vet.

Yorkie USA and Ladyjane,

Actually, he did do definitive lab work to rule out cushings. I appreciate your input but, it seems you are making assumptions. Don't linger on every word I write it seems you are putting to much emphasis on my word choices.

Exactly what tests did he do to rule out Cushings?

I don't think I lingered on anything. Diagnosing Pancreatitis is not difficult....but diagnosing Cushings is.

I give up!:confused:

low fat is the key solid gold has a good low fat dry food holistique blend if she has pancreatitis it has 6% fat nothing fatty

My dog Barney had acute pancreatitis twice - 5 years apart - and is on a low fat diet of home cooked food for the rest of his life and doing great. THe alternative food recommended for him as a back up was Royal Canin Gastrointestinal lowfat, the lowest fat commercial food available for his condition. Unfortunately, he threw up three times so I did not continue it. He does very well on his home cooked diet that was made just for him.

By the way, I agree with everyone else regarding the vet.

Hi Anne sent you a PM about all I have been doing for Izzy. It's been two years since she has had an attack but for 8 months it was terrible. Almost lost her 3x. After thousands of dollars and reading here on YT, vet, Internert, nutritionists, etc. Finally got her stable.

She is on half home cooked and half Purina EN. It was hard for me to do the EN since I'm such a holistic/home cooked, raw kind of gal..lol. But you have to do what's right for your baby and if that means that she lives on canned then so be it.

I liked the Purina EN as it has coconut oil in and now colostrum. The Science Diet worked but I liked these two ingredients more. Also do not do the Pork Science Diet as that could trigger an episode.

She is also on steamed tilapia and pureed green beans and times I give her hard boiled egg, sweet potato. She has to be on a low fat/low protein diet for rest of her life.

On supplements: Tylan, Pepcid AC now 3x week but daily she is taking probiotics, enzymes, Vitamineral Green (a superfood). I can now give her some low fat doggie cookies that our bakery makes for doggies. But I am very careful on what what she eats.

Keep us posted.

What is that??

The Science Diet prescription diets the ID and WD have pork in them and Izzy could not tolerate pork due to her pancreatitis/SIBO/IBD. The Purina EN does not have pork added.